October 23, 2012

ABT moves its fall season to the Koch Theater

The Wall Street Journal reports tonight that ABT is leaving New York City Center and has signed a three year deal to perform at the Koch Theater for two weeks each October beginning in 2013. The Spring Season at the Met remains intact.

Per Pia Catton:

New artistic possibilities are also on the table: More of the
company's repertory can now be dusted off and put onstage. Because of
space limitations at City Center, which was built by the Shriners as a
meeting hall in 1923 and has limited wing space, ABT could only present
small-scale or contemporary works without scenery.

To balance that, ABT saved its full-length classics, such as "Swan
Lake" and "Giselle," for the Met Opera House, which is well-suited to
ballets on a operatic scale. "There are works that could not fit into
City Center, but would be lost on the Met's stage," said Ms. Moore,
citing Twyla Tharp's "Bach Partita" as an example.

But it also sounds like the move is being made to justify gouging more money out of ticketbuyers:

ABT's chief executive officer, Rachel Moore, said the company has both
artistic and financial motives for the move. The Koch Theater presents
revenue opportunities, even though it comes with higher costs, such as a
pricier union contract, than City Center: With a greater number of
prime orchestra seats, the company can charge top dollar for more
tickets, especially for its gala evenings. "They don't have a radically
different number of seats, but it's the nature of the seats," said Ms.
Moore.

There is no mention of how this will affect the NYCB FallSeason. Hopefully, it will move into the end of October and November with a seamless transition into Nutcracker.

Comments

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Hi Haglund,

Personally, I think this is great news. I stopped attending ABT's fall season a couple of years ago because I really do not like City Center as a dance venue at all. I know they've remodeled it, but the stage is too small, it's hard to find reasonably priced good seats, etc. The move to the Koch Theater will allow the company to perform more diverse works during the fall season. Maybe, as you say, this will lead to ticket gouging. I don't know. Nonetheless, I welcome the move.

I totally agree with you that the Koch Theater is a better dance venue than City Center, but no one should expect ABT to extend the same kind of user-friendly prices that NYCB now offers, e.g. $29 seats, Society NYCB $17 seats. The differences in prices should be brought up at every opportunity.

Not all the reasons for the move have a lot of substance to them, such as being able to mount works like Bach Partita that are too small for the Met. Bach Partita, really? But Morris' Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes isn't too small for the Met? Simkin's Les Bourgeois solo isn't too small? Thais PdD isn't too small?

We'll just have to wait and see how much of the repertory ABT really dusts off and brings back. It would be a happy surprise to once again see Bruch Violin Concerto (which looks great on the Met stage),Echoing of Trumpets, Clear, and other forgotten pieces, but I won't hold my breath.